User´s Perspective: Privacy and Security of Information on Social Networks

The goal of this study was to test the broader applicability of the findings in the 2009 research by L. Sørensen and K. Skouby, titled "Next Generation Social Networks - What Users Want". Their small-scale study, that examined high-level user requirements of future web-based social networks, showed that "users have high concerns towards the handling of their private data in web-based social networks generally calling for a higher focus on securing trust and privacy". With a sample population from various age groups and backgrounds such as environmental health, math, chemistry and information technology we found their results are not directly applicable to the general population of social networking site users.